Anass Terrab

University of Seville | US · Plant Biology and Ecology

Species with extremely small population sizes are critically endangered because of reduced genetic diversity, increased inbreeding and hybridisation threats. Genomic tools significantly advance conservation by revealing genetic insights into endangered species, notably in monitoring frameworks. Sicilian fir ( Abies nebrodensis ) is the most endange...

Aim: Climate change challenges the adaptive capacity of several tree species. This study explores the genetic diversity and past range dynamics of silver fir (Abies alba) with the objective of set hotspots of population diversity and priorities for conservation based on climate change-induced dieback. Location: Mediterranean, Europe Methods: We per...

Background Colon cancer, a prominent contributor to global cancer-related deaths, prompts the need for innovative treatment strategies. Euphorbia resinifera O. Berg (E. resinifera) and Euphorbia officinarum subsp. echinus Hook. f. & Coss Vindt (E. echinus) and their bee-derived products have been integral to traditional Moroccan medicine due to the...

Melissopalynological knowledge, regarding the uniflorality of honeys, in terms of pollen content, depends on the plant source, but, in many cases, it is difficult to establish the threshold of pollen percentage for a honey to be considered unifloral. This research aims to increase knowledge for the classification of unifloral honeys through pollen...

Species with extremely small population sizes are critically endangered due to reduced genetic diversity, increased inbreeding, and the added threat of hybridization. Genomic tools significantly advance conservation by revealing genetic insights into endangered species, notably in monitoring frameworks. Sicilian fir is the most endangered conifer i...

Preserving the genetic diversity of forest species is critical for maintaining their adaptive potential and allowing for generation turnover in forest ecosystems. Considering an uncertain future, it is necessary to establish reliable genetic conservation strategies to optimize the genetic variation preserved within populations in a spatially explic...

Abies nebrodensis (Lojac.) Mattei is an endemic species of the north-west of Sicily located in an 84 ha area in the Madonie Regional park. The relic population is limited to 30 relic adult trees and a fluctuating number of juveniles of natural regeneration. The species is defined as “Critically Endangered” in the Italian list of threatened plants a...

The current distribution of most species results from ecological niche, past distribution, migrations during glacial‐interglacial periods and in situ evolution. Here, we disentangle the colonization history of Saxifraga longifolia Lapeyr., a limestone plant abundant in the Pyrenees and rare in other Iberian mountains and the African Atlas. Our work...

Our aim in this study was to outline phenolic and color characteristic that characterize the labeled unifloral resin spurge (Euphorbia resinifera) honey. With respect to phenolic composition, 17 phenolic compounds have been analyzed in the 29 honey samples. The proposed markers (syringic acid, ethyl gallate, m-coumaric acid and naringenin) might he...

A better understanding of long-term effects of climate and historical anthropogenic changes is needed to define effective conservation measures of endangered forest inhabiting managed landscapes. Diversification and distribution of Mediterranean firs are attributed to the global climate change during the Miocene and Quaternary as well as to the eff...

Background Honey is a sweet and flavorful natural product which comes from a lot of nectar of medicinal plants. Objective The aims of this study were to determine the botanical origin, physicochemical parameters and the antioxidant contents and antibacterial activities of some Algerian honeys. Method The physico-chemical parameters of the honeys...

La causa principale della perdita di biodiversità in natura è dovuta all’intervento indiscriminato dell’uomo, responsabile in larga misura dei cambiamenti climatici, della perdita e frammentazione degli habitat, dell’inquinamento, dell’introduzione di specie aliene e del sovrasfruttamento o uso non sostenibile delle risorse naturali. L’Abete delle...

Some tree species have distributions on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar and the Strait of Sicily. It is a challenge to determine whether such distributions result from the Tertiary or Pleistocene or from more recent dispersal related to human activities. Tetraclinis articulata (Cupressaceae) is a gymnosperm that offers an ideal model to deal...

Unifloral honeys are highly valued, and their botanical and geographical characterization plays an important role in quality control. This work is an essential contribution to the limited knowledge of the unique resin spurge (Euphorbia resinifera) honey. Palynological and geographical characterization was performed on 29 unifloral resin spurge hone...

BACKGROUND: Honey is a vegetable and animal product which comes from nectar and / or honeydew. It is used in different nutritional and therapeutic fields. OBJECTIVE: Melissopalynology and physicochemical analysis of Algerian honeys, determination of their phenolic compounds and authenticity parameters and the evaluation of their antioxidant propert...

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria continue to be of major health concern worldwide. In recent years, several reports and scientific articles claim the contamination of honey by antibiotics, detectable concentrations of antibiotic residues in honey are illegal. They, may cause hypersensitivity or resistance to drug therapy in humans, and are perceived b...

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted by plants as a consequence of their interaction with biotic and abiotic factors, and have a very important role in plant evolution. Floral VOCs are often involved in defense and pollinator attraction. These interactions often change rapidly over time, so a quick response to those changes is required. Ep...

Bee pollen is a natural matrix widely studied in its nutritional and bioactive compounds, including carotenoids. That composition is usually identified by Rapid Resolution Liquid Chromatography (RRLC) coupled to UV–Vis spectrophotometry, an expensive method that requires complex sample preparation and long analysis time. In this work, a correlation...

Abstract Fungi can colonize most of the substrata on Earth. Honey, a sugary food produced by bees (and other insects) has been studied little in terms of its fungal diversity. We have surveyed and evaluated the presence of xerotolerant and xerophilic fungi in a set of honey bee samples collected from across Spain. From 84 samples, a total of 104 fu...

Background and aims: Inferring the evolutionary relationships of species and their boundaries is critical in order to understand patterns of diversification and their historical drivers. Despite Abies (Pinaceae) being the second most diverse group of conifers, the evolutionary history of Circum-Mediterranean firs (CMF) remains under debate. Metho...

Typification of Crepis bursifolia and chorology in Morocco Palabras clave. Tipificación, sinonimias, corología, Casablanca, Rabat, Tánger. Key words. Typification, sinonimy, chorology, Casablanca, Rabat, Tanger.

On the presence of Crepis balliana Babc. in Morocco Palabras clave: Crepis balliana, descripción, Casablanca, Marruecos Key words: Crepis balliana, description, chorology, Morocco

The emergent market for honeydew honeys in Europe prompt to increasing requirements of consumers and honey industry for the characterisation of this type of honey. The aim of this study was to characterise 59 samples of Spanish oak honeydew honeys. Physicochemical properties showed values within the limits established by the legislation and typical...

ABSTRACT. This revision treats the 41 South American species of Hypochaeris, plus the northwest African H. angustifolia, all now placed in a single monophyletic section Phanoderis. The New World species constitute subsection Phanoderis, and the single African species comprises subsection Africana. The species in South America represent a challenge...

Bee pollen is a hive product, resulting from floral pollen agglutination by worker bees and it is characterized by its excellent bioactive and nutritional composition. Currently, research is focused on bee pollen applications on food industry, because this product has been considered an excellent source of compounds for human nutrition. It is also...

The emergent market for honeydew honey mostly in Europe has prompted increasing requirements by consumers and the honey industry for the characterisation of this type of honey. This work is a contribution to the limited knowledge of honeydew honeys in Spain. Botanical characterisation was performed on 59 honeydew honey samples from professional bee...

The physicochemical characteristics of Euphorbia resinifera honey were studied. Considering the low water content, the majority of the honeys presented a proper maturity. The values of acidity revealed the absence of inappropriate fermentation, while the low values of hydroxymethylfurfural (0.4–16.48 mg/kg) were suitable for of unprocessed honeys....

In the present work, microbiological profile of thirty-seven samples of labeled honey were collected in a Protected Geographical Indication "PGI" area of Tadla-Azilal region, which is an endemic zone of Euphorbia resinifera plant. A profile was assessed using conventional microbial methods, like enumeration, detection and/or germs identification, i...

In the present work, microbiological profile of thirty-seven samples of labeled honey were collected in a Protected Geographical Indication “PGI” area of Tadla-Azilal region, which is an endemic zone of Euphorbia resinifera plant. A profile was assessed using conventional microbial methods, like enumeration, detection and/or germs identification, i...

Beekeeping is an agricultural sector that has a special character in Morocco. It is virtually present in different regions. The apiarian potentialities in Morocco are important and remain under exploited. Honey production is stagnating because of many difficulties concerning repopulating colonies despite governmental efforts to modernize the sector...

In the western Mediterranean, although considerable attention has focused on the role of the Strait of Gibraltar on diversification of biota, relatively few studies have looked at the biogeographical consequences of the large rivers as barriers to gene flow on North African and southern European taxa. To investigate the importance of river basins i...

For their colony needs, bees harvest honey, honeydew, pollen and water from the environment, which contain natural products and various chemical contaminants. Most of the latters can be found in products consumed by humans and, consequently, may constitute a risk to public health. Honey product could be considered a bio-indicator of environmental p...

For their colony needs, bees harvest honey, honeydew, pollen and water from the environment, which contain natural products and various chemical contaminants. Most of the latters can be found in products consumed by humans and, consequently, may constitute a risk to public health. Honey product could be considered a bio-indicator of environmental p...

Hypochaeris leontodontoides is a rupicolous species endemic to the Atlas Mountains (Morocco), where it occurs in scattered populations. This study aims to understand the biogeographic structure of a high mountain species in a rather small area of NW Africa. We used Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) to investigate the population structur...

In phylogeography, DNA sequence and fingerprint data at the population level are used to infer evolutionary histories of species. Phylogeography above the species level is concerned with the genealogical aspects of divergent lineages. Here, we provide a phylogeographic study to examine the evolutionary history of a western Mediterranean composite,...

The increase in gene diversity from high to low latitudes is a widely recognized biogeographical pattern, often shaped by differential effects of Late Quaternary climatic changes. Here, we evaluate the effects of Pleistocene climatic changes from northern Europe to North Africa and their implications on the population differentiation of the widespr...

The quality of 27 Moroccan spurge (Euphorbia) honey samples was assessed. Eight physicochemical parameters and mineral composition were analysed and the CIELAB colour parameters (L∗, a∗, b∗, C∗ab and hab) were determined. Results shown no significant differences between the two Euphorbia honey types (E. officinarum subsp. echinus and E. regis-jubae...

Chamaerops humilis L. is 1 of 2 native palms occurring in Europe and the only native palm in the West Mediterranean region. Our aims were: (1) to describe its phylogeographic structure; (2) to infer a biogeographic scenario to explain its present distribution; and (3) to assess changes in its distribution from the last interglacial period. Twenty-t...

Hybridization is known to have a creative role in plant evolution. However, it can also have negative effects on parental species. Onopordum is a large genus whose species frequently hybridize. In the Southwest Iberian Peninsula, the rare O. hinojense co-occurs with the widely distributed O. nervosum, and hybrids between these two taxa have been de...

Plant architecture is crucial to pollination and mating in wind pollinated species. We investigated the effect of crown architecture on pollen dispersal, mating system and offspring quality, combining phenotypic and genotypic analyses in a low-density population of the endangered species Abies pinsapo. A total of 598 embryos from three relative cro...

Analyzing the pattern and causes of phenotypic and genetic variation within and among populations might help to understand life history variability in plants, and to predict their responses to changing environmental conditions. Here we compare phenotypic variation and genetic diversity of the widespread herb Plantago coronopus across Europe, and ev...

Fifty nuclear microsatellite primers were initially developed using next-generation sequencing (454) data from a single individual of Tetraclinis articulata (Vahl) Mast. Eleven primers were finally applied in 30 individuals from 3 localities from Morocco, Algeria and Spain. The number of alleles per locus ranged from one to ten. The average observe...

Pollen was analysed in 30 unifloral Euphorbia honey samples from the Ifni Massif Region (Anti Atlas, Morocco). The honey samples were directly provided by beekeepers. The quantitative analyis showed that nectar is the main honey source in the samples studied. The qualitative analysis of the samples showed the presence of 35 taxa belonging to 17 fam...

Twelve nuclear microsatellite primers (nSSR) were developed for the endangered species Abies pinsapo Boiss. to enable the study of gene flow and genetic structure in the remaining distribution areas. Microsatellite primers were developed using next-generation sequencing (454) data from a single Abies pinsapo individual. Primers were applied to thir...

The genus Hypochaeris offers an excellent model for studies of recent adaptive radiation in the South American continent. We used karyotype analysis with chromomycinA3 (CMA3)/4’,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) banding and fluorescence insitu hybridization (FISH), and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting to investigate for...

Rumex bucephalophorus is a very polymorphic species that has been subjected to various taxonomic studies in which diverse infraspecific taxa have been recognised on the basis of diaspore traits. In this study we used molecular markers (ITS and AFLP) to explore this remarkable diversity, to test previous hypotheses of classification, and attempt to...

The Strait of Gibraltar (SG) is reputed for being both a bridge and a geographic barrier to biological exchanges between Europe and Africa. Major genetic breaks associated with this strait have been identified in various taxa, but it is unknown whether these disjunctions have been produced simultaneously or by independent biogeographic processes. H...

The genus Erophaca comprises a single herbaceous perennial species with two subspecies distributed at opposite ends of the Mediterranean region. We used nrDNA ITS to investigate the phylogeny of the genus, and AFLP markers (9 primers, 20 populations) to establish the genetic relationship between subspecies, and among populations at each side of the...

We report the phylogeographic pattern of the Patagonian and Subantarctic plant Hypochaeris incana endemic to southeastern South America. We applied amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) analysis to 28 and 32 populations, respectively, throughout its distributional range and assessed ploidy levels using flow cytom...

Aim To analyse phylogeographic patterns in the four species of Hypochaeris sect. Hypochaeris , evaluating possible areas of origin and the microevolutionary processes that have shaped their morphology, genetics and distribution. Location Western Mediterranean area. Methods We applied amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers to a total...

We used Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism markers (AFLP) and breeding system studies to investigate the population structure and reproductive biology of Hypochaeris angustifolia (Asteraceae: Cichorieae). This species is endemic to altiplanos of the Atlas Mountains (Morocco) where it occurs in scattered populations, and it is the sister species...

We report the phylogeographic pattern of the Patagonian and Subantarctic plant Hypochaeris incana endemic to southeastern South America. We applied amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) analysis to 28 and 32 populations, respectively, throughout its distributional range and assessed ploidy levels using flow cytom...

Two new species of genus Onopordum L. from the Atlantic coast (SW Spain and NW Morocco)Palabras clave. Onopordum, Compositae, costa atlántica, W Mediterráneo.Key words. Onopordum, Compositae, Atlantic coast, W Mediterranean.

Northwest Africa is a major hotspot of plant biodiversity, but very little is known about the Quaternary range dynamics of plant species in this region. Here we investigate the range-wide population structure and phylogeography of Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica), an emblematic forest tree endemic to Morocco and Algeria. We genotyped 261 individuals...

In an attempt to delineate the area of origin and migratory expansion of the highly successful invasive weedy species Hypochaeris radicata, we analysed amplified fragment length polymorphisms from samples taken from 44 populations. Population sampling focused on the central and western Mediterranean area, but also included sites from Northern Spain...

We investigate the range-wide population structure and phylogeography of thuriferous juniper (Juniperus thurifera L.), a species with a highly disjunct distribution in the western Mediterranean. We genotyped a total of 327 individuals from 20 populations using amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP). Different analyses such as principal co-o...